In the 1970s, Sesame Street — the standard in children’s TV — was loud and boisterous. Producer Ted Coneybeare wanted to do something different.

So Coneybeare, who died Monday at 86, created Polka Dot Door, a quiet alternative.

“He wanted to get the message across that kids did not want to be educated that way. They wanted to be educated quietly and calmly,” nephew Randy Renaud said Saturday night.

Friends and family remember Leo Howard Coneybeare, who went by “Ted,” as a brilliant man: a consummate storyteller who did crossword puzzles in record time, cooked gourmet meals and was always quick with a joke.

Polka Dot Door starred the hybrid animule Polkaroo who only said his own name. Although it was produced on a shoestring budget, it became hugely popular and has been telecast throughout North America and overseas. The show broke new ground by avoiding gender and ethnic stereotypes

Coneybeare grew up in Essex County, near Windsor, and put himself through school, getting an education degree from Detroit’s Wayne State University. He worked as a teacher, ranging from single-room schools to teachers’ college in Peterborough, before moving to TV production.

While attending a conference in Florida in the late 1960s, Coneybeare met Raymond Snell.

“It was one of those things where it was love at first sight.” said Robert Preston, a longtime friend and neighbour.

The men moved in together soon afterward, buying a house in Rosedale. “They were inseparable,” Preston said. “They travelled the world together.”

Coneybeare retired in 1982, producing 30 episodes as a consultant before leaving the show for good. He donned the Polkaroo costume on one occasion during a photo shoot, when the model that was supposed to wear the costume wasn’t tall enough.

In Oct. 2007, after almost 40 years together, Coneybeare and Snell got married, and had a ceremony at Toronto’s Metropolitan Community Church the following week.

“It was tremendously important to both of them that they did that,” Preston said. “It was one of the happiest moments of their lives.”

Snell died in 2010, before Coneybeare received a Gemini Award honouring his lifetime work.

Coneybeare had to learn to talk again after two-thirds of his tongue was surgically removed in 2005 because of mouth cancer. That didn’t stop him from employing his quick wit.

“He always had a new joke every day,” Preston said.

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